6 Spooky Objects and Monsters the Internet Found on Mars

The Internet has "found" everything from ghosts to crabs to a statue of Obama on the surface of Mars.

Ever since Viking 1 beamed back the first images of the Martian surface in 1975, one thing has been abundantly clear: Mars is almost entirely made up of boring orange rocks. Everywhere, as far as the eye can see: Orangey-reddish rocks. Rocks on rocks on rocks on rocks. So many rocks. It's the kind of excruciating monotony that could make a person delusional. And that's kind of exactly what's happened: Mars's agonizing lack of things that aren't orange rocks has driven a portion of the Internet insane.

Let me explain.

For more than a decade, NASA has maintained a squadron of robot explorers on the surface of Mars: Opportunity, which landed in 2004; Spirit which was active from 2004 to 2009; and Curiosity, which landed in 2012. These billion-dollar mechanical pioneers spend their time bumbling around the rocky Martian surface snapping photos of different kinds of Martian rocks. Hundereds of rock photos. (Click here to see just how many photos Curiosity alone sends back on a single Martian day.)

And therein lies a huge cultural disconnect: Decades of science fiction promised us that Mars would be a spellbinding frontier of boundless discovery. And if there weren't Martians to be found, then at the very least, we would find the remnants of a once great Martian society! But, as it turned out, it was mostly just boring orange rocks.

Or is it?

Some people want to believe so badly that Mars is more than just Mad Max B-roll, that they've begun to see things that aren't really there. In a previous era, these desperate believers would have been a lone voice in the abyss, but social media (not to mention pageview hungry bloggers) has helped them spread this delusional X-Files X-foolery.

Much of these geologic mirages are attributable to pareidolia: The ability of the human brain to see patterns—particularly faces—where they don't actually exist (this is what happens when you see objects made out of the clouds, or when you see "the man in the moon"). The brain is a powerful, but far from infallible machine.

These types of Martian delusions go as far back as the Viking missions, when photos taken from orbit caused some observers to see a human face in a Martian mountain range (the so-called "Cydonia Face"). Fast forward to 2015, and this process of discovering Martian life by any means necessary has been put on steroids via a daily stream of high-quality Mars images combined with the unparalleled disseminating power of the Internet.

Here are some of the weirdest (and occasionally spooky) finds from the Martian surface that have driven parts of the Internet insane.

The truth is probably out there. But don't go around looking for it on the Internet.

1. Floating Spoon

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

This image was captured on Aug. 30 by NASA's Curiosity Rover, and was soon after highlighted in forums for armchair exogeologists. What could possibly be holding this spoon-like object in place? Nothing analogous exists on Earth. Another angle might make more sense of it, but for now it is a giant floating geologic utensil.

2. Is the President a Martian?

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

This is part of a panoramic image taken from the summit of "Husband Hill" in 2005 by NASA's Spirit rover. This true color image was taken over the course of three Earth days to deliver a "level of clarity [that] is unequaled in the history of Mars Exploration." And that unparalleled detail that has allowed some on the Internet to find a very familiar object.

Above, you can see a deep zoom on a rocky outcrop that doesn't not look like United States President Barack Hussein Obama. At least that's what some on the Internet think. As of press time, the White House has yet to respond on how the president's visage ended up on the Red Planet.

Is this a shiny rock or a space lizard!? (It's just a shiny rock. I'm 97 percent sure it's just a shiny rock)

6. Martian Crab Monster

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

One of the biggest "finds" of recent times was the space crab hiding in the nook of an otherwise desolate rocky outcrop. NASA swears it's just a rock. But that's exactly what NASA would say if they were in cohoots with a race of evil space crabs. Think about it.

Evan Dashevsky is a features editor with PCMag and host of our live interview series The Convo. He can usually be found listening to blisteringly loud noises on his headphones while exploring the nexus between tech, culture, and politics. Follow his thought sneezes over on the Twitter (@haldash) and slightly more in-depth diatribin' over on the Facebook.
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